Come to the quiet - Pastor's Pen for 27th April 2025

Centennial Park

On Wednesday morning I walked around Centennial Park, which is a bit of a bush oasis in the city. I had to pick my way a bit more carefully through the forest trails as a good deal of foliage and pine needles had fallen during the sub-optimal weather we had on Easter weekend. This meant the knobbly pine roots were partially obscured. Not wishing to add more injuries to the one I'm already rehabilitating, I slowed down. I listened to an audio devotion from Lectio 365 as I began, but after that just turned my attention to the noises of the bush, particularly the Tui quietly uttering a morning song, far preferable to the sounds of rush hour traffic.

Most of us claim to be on a kind of spiritual path with Jesus, but so many times the way seems unclear, the distractions and challenges of life obscure the route. Sometimes we hurry on, without adjusting our pace to suit the conditions we are experiencing. So then we stumble and fall. Let us remember to slow down and listen.

Elijah fled from Jezebel in 1 Kings 19. He was fearful for his life. Eventually, at Mt. Horeb he slowed down enough to take note of what God was saying to him. We read; "He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;  and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence."

Are we stumbling along the path of life? Slow down and listen, God is faithful and will speak. I'm reminded of a song; "God speaks to me in silences, His voice is so plain in quietness. God's speech to me is not silent, His voice is so plain in the quiet." (Jules Riding - Come to the Quiet)